What's your biggest hurdle for improving?

[Robert]

Just curious, what do you feel is your biggest hurdle when it comes to improving? Understanding modes, scales, picking technique, theory, improvising, etc?

For me, well I think my biggest hurdle for improving to where I would like to be is my technique. I don't feel I have good enough picking technique for playing the kind of lines I'd like when I improvise.

Secondly, I sometimes wish I had a better musical vocabulary, but then again, that's something I work on - If I ever find the time to practice more!

 

[Childbride]

time.

i lack not desire, aspirations, work ethic, drive.

i lack time.

it kills me. i go to my lesson, and a ten year old in front of me knows what an f#major7diminished going into the ____

if i had but started then.

 

[Spudman]

That's a great question Robert.

I have hurdles but I couldn't tell you exactly what they are. I just know that I can't do a lot of stuff that I'd like to do. I guess I don't know what it takes to do some of those things so I can't even say what they are or how to describe what the hurdles even are. If I could sit down with a more advanced player while they played lines then I could go "wait! that line you just played - what was that? How did you do that?" That would get me over some hurdles.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Also time, specifically focused time with productive energy. Too often my practice time comes during my typical "veg" time. That can be fine, but I need practice time at other periods of the day where I an get my chops down better, then use that "veg" time for creative exploration and expression.

The knowledge is coming along fine, it is the chops (skills and muscle memory) that take me more time to build.

I just want the good, basic fundamentals of a good journeyman player. I bet I can add a bunch of expression from there. Getting to that point just takes old fashioned wood shed practice I guess. At least to get to the point I aspire to reach. Once I get there, I am sure I will have a new journey I would like to take.

 

[Ch0jin]

Top place: My own short attention span.

Second: Trying to unlearn or at least modify long standing bad habits that block progress. Specifically I developed a way of playing power chords using two fingers and using the first finger segment to barre the two strings below the first string. I can rip out power chords very fast this way and can change from E string versions to A string versions well, but moving your fingers from this shape to play single note licks is cumbersome (Guess who grew up playing punk rock guitar). It's also very tiring. (and my pinky kinda sticks out useless in mid air) I never really learn't how to play barre chords and I now realise I probably should have, as switching from an E power chord to an A one (like in Blitzkrieg Bop for example) seems to be much simpler using a barre chord shape than my method. Don't get me wrong. I know how to finger barre chords, but my fingers don't know how too. I need to kinda mentally will them into position.

Third: Lack of people to jam with who are either patient, or at the same level. Example. Had a great jam with a much more experienced mate on Saturday. If he hadn't been a mate though I'd suggest he might have got a little bored playing endless blues/rock chord progressions so I could solo over them. My rhythm playing is poor and I came away from the session knowing that I should get my rhythm chops and theory sorted as a priority. It's one thing to be able to rip out blues licks up and down the fretboard, but it's quite another to provide the backing for someone else to do it.

 

[warren0728]

Just curious, what do you feel is your biggest hurdle when it comes to improving? Understanding modes, scales, picking technique, theory, improvising, etc?

all of the above....throw in lack of time and a slow brain....and....

 

[R_of_G]

Definitely time.

I can learn new things and improve existing techniques when I have the time, but I no longer have the time. I still have time to play a little bit here and there, but I lack the time to do any serious and focused practice. Parenthood has caused me to rearrange my priorities, and I wouldn't trade my free time with Ella for anything in the world, but I used to have a lot more time to focus on guitar.

 

[evenkeel]

1. Decades of finely developed bad habits. Over the years I've played in fits and starts with long periods of never touching the guitar. Largely self taught, so that tends to reinforce the bad habit thing.

2. A somewhat less than disciplined practice approach. I tend to find something that grabs my attention, work on it a bit, but then get distracted with something else.

 

[Katastrophe]

For me, it's time.

I usually only get a few minutes at a time to play. So, it's snatch up the guitar and warm up, then play a few lines and put it back down.

Kinda sucks for improving anything technique wise.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Top place: My own short attention span.

+1

You really hit the nail on the head (for me at least). I really envy those who can spend hours and hours doing nothing but practicing. I just don't have the attention span to sit and practice something that I really need to practice. I get bored and then start goofing around, playing the same old cliched licks I know, etc.

Second: Trying to unlearn or at least modify long standing bad habits that block progress.

Again, spot on.

tung

 

[Jimi75]

Impatience - lack of focus - being erratic about styles - don't have a cure for my sometimes sloppy playing (depends on daily form).

 

[Andy]

one bad habit is flying finger(s) , not all the time just on certain runs/riffs...it's very hard to break,and mainly the pinky.

It wasn't much of a problem untill I started trying to develope more left hand speed.
annother thing I'm working on is keeping my thumb behind the neck more often, again ,wasn't an issue untill I started working on increasing speed.

After all these years of playing a certain way it's like trying to change a bad golf swing that I've made to work, I can hit the ball well and strait but to really improve further, I feel like I have to start over from square one. It's very frustrating breaking lifelong habits and taxes my patience sometimes.
(actually alot).

I'm trying to play new riffs/solos the textbook way and get fustrated because I can do it my way,easier. I predict It will take a good solid year for me to get back to where I'm at now, if that makes any sense.

I hope it's worth it , the wife says she can hear improvement so I'm working hard at it (so far)

 

[mrmudcat]

time.

i lack not desire, aspirations, work ethic, drive.

i lack time.

it kills me. i go to my lesson, and a ten year old in front of me knows what an f#major7diminished going into the ____

if i had but started then.

Took the very first thing I thought of ...TIME!!!:thwap:

 

[marnold]

Time would be one but the reality is not knowing what I want to do. I've got more instructional material than I could possibly use, but sticking with something is difficult. I'm at that point where I can pick up easy songs relatively quickly, but I don't have the dexterity and patience to learn more complicated things.

 

[Lev]

Definitely time.

I can learn new things and improve existing techniques when I have the time, but I no longer have the time. I still have time to play a little bit here and there, but I lack the time to do any serious and focused practice. Parenthood has caused me to rearrange my priorities, and I wouldn't trade my free time with Ella for anything in the world, but I used to have a lot more time to focus on guitar.

+1 (Substitute Ella for Grace)

 

[aeolian]

For me there are 2 areas where I see hurdles.

If I want to learn something complicated, the biggest hurdle is time. I just don't have hours to sit and figure something out by ear and learning how to play it back on my guitar.

The second is memory. I have been playing with a hobby band and we have around 20 songs that we play through. We divided the list into 2 and each week we play through songs on one of the lists. My problem is that I can't seem to get all the songs committed to memory so I require a chart in order to be able to do many of the songs. I realize I have this problem even outside of our practice: if I learn a song, I can have a hard time remember how to play it after a while of not playing it. I don't know whether it is that my memory is bad or if I just have not practiced them enough so my muscle memory will guide me in playing these songs. As a band we have talked about trying to play out, I see this as a big hurdle for me.

 

[just strum]

* Short attention span

* time

* patience - wanting to be good, no make that great, NOW!!!


I'm sorry, what was the question?

 

[sunvalleylaw]

+1 (Substitute Ella for Grace)

+1 again, substitute Derek, Dane and Anneka for Ella and Grace.

 

[oldguy]

Not enough time, not having a clear plan of attack knowing what I'd like to learn/practice when I have time, and falling into playing stuff I already know when I have free time.
As far as technique, I've never been able to pick fast, so I should practice that more, but in the past when I did practice it I didn't seem to gain much speed-wise. I kind of lost interest when I figured out I needed to work on making notes count as opposed to making them fast..........ancake:

 

[Glacies]

Mine seems to be focus. I love playing rythym, I love playing lead, I love improving, playing different styles... I haven't focused on any one thing to really own it, and I'm not good enough at anything to say I'm good at it.

 

[pes_laul]

I don't really think I have a problem with improvising because it's the only thing I do. I've never really crafted a solo I just do a one take and if I liked it. learn how I did it and go from there.

 

[tjcurtin1]

Wow - its' really interesting how many of us list the same problems, from lack of time, to difficulty being consistent in our approach, to difficulty learning and retaining. It makes you think that, with so many commonalities, someone would have found an ideal approach to deal with all of it - tho maybe it's called 'taking lessons'...... Now, if I just had the time and money for lessons...

 

[aeolian]

It makes you think that, with so many commonalities, someone would have found an ideal approach to deal with all of it - tho maybe it's called 'taking lessons'

I took lessons for a year and a half which ended a couple of years ago. What I studied was theory, specifically as applied to guitar. I developed a much better understanding of how chords fit within a scale. With this knowledge I have a much easier time figuring out chord progressions to songs, this makes learning songs much much easier. Now if I can only remember them without having to write them down I'd be happy.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Time, time, time, ain't on my side-No it ain't!

& specifically I need more time where I can turn up my amphs.

I usually play though my VOX Tonelab with headphones. It works, but it doesn't encourage the exploration of subtle dynamics and all that expressive "in your fingers" stuff as a real amp does.